Community Meeting to discuss the Vinfen facility at 155 Central St

[mderidder.livejournal.com]

On the fringe of Davis, but for those who are interested/concerned:

Alderman Bill White is having a meeting of the Committee on Public Health and Public Safety on Monday, Nov. 24 at 6:30 at the committee room at City Hall (to discuss the Vinfen facility at 155 Central Street and 81 Bartlett St.  This facility is an assisted living/halfway house facility that experienced a large fire a couple of months ago.

http://www.wickedlocal.com/somerville/archive/x941710159/A-bathroom-fire-stopped-on-Central-Street

Since the fire, repairs have been in progress to the house.

Neighbors are getting together to discuss the presence of this facility in our neighborhood as this fire was not the first incident.  Some of the other incidents that have occured in the past include:

-  A second fire where the contents of a trash can were set on fire in the backyard
-  Past Tenants smoking marijuana and drinking on other neighbors property (it is against their policy since this is a rehab house)
-  Disposing of empty beer cans/alcohol containers in surrounding neighbors yards
-  Excess calls to fire and police department
-  One tenant that was recently staying there had a medical history of extreme violence and severe mental instability, and had been arrested in the past for such behaviors.  Several women in the neighborhood were concerning with safety at night.

I plan to attend to find out if they plan to reopen as a halfway house and to learn more about the facility and what they plan to do to reduce the number of incidents.

Comments

[ron_newman]

Is 81 Bartlett Street a different house owned by the same organization? Bartlett St doesn't intersect Central St, so I'm a bit confused.

[mderidder.livejournal.com]

I believe that they own both houses and use them as facilities. I also believe that the meeting will cover information and concerns on both properties, but the primary impetus for the meeting is the fire, repairs, and reoccupation of 155 Central St.

[ellf.livejournal.com]

I hope that a reasonable plan can be presented from Vinfen -- having worked in and managed a residential facility for a number of years, I appreciate the objections of the neighbors, but see this as a management problem rather than a cause to close the home. NIMBYism ultimately doesn't benefit anyone.

[joyfulkel.livejournal.com]

agree. There are so few programs out there as it is.

[mderidder.livejournal.com]

Just to be clear, I agree that management of the home is the issue and did not put this post up to rally the neighbors against the facility itself.

However, if management of the facility continues to be poor, then other solutions should be considered.

My wife works is social services, so we are well aware of the need for facilities like this one and the impact poor (or good) management can have.

[tt02144.livejournal.com]

It is almost certainly a mangement problem. Although homes like this will have their occasional problems, when it is ongoing then the house is just being poorly supervised, if at all. However, I don't believe there's anything the city can do about it beyond asking that they supervise the house more closely. I don't think the city regulates, certifies, or licenses these houses. I believe when an organization is placing such a home in a city they are under no obligation to make neighbors or city officials aware of their intent. So certainly a presence is good, and making your voice heard is always good, don't be too surprised if you learn that there's not much that can really be done about it. Hopefully they'll clean the place up on their own just to have good relations with the city and the neighbors.

155 Central Street Vinfen

[som-neigh.livejournal.com]

This hearing was because there have been 2 fires in 2 years in this home operating by Vinfen. The latest fire nearly took a neighbor's home. Vinfen does not own this property - rents it. There have been issues with noise, alcohol abuse, littering, etc. This is not against the residents who are mentally ill, it is about the poor management of the house, residents with a violent history being allowed to live there, and the fear of another fire. Neighbors would like a sprinkler system installed but Inspecitonal Services says it is only required if there are more than 10 residents at the home. Vinfen gets around this issue by saying there are 8 residents and 4 "rotating." So there can be 12 people in residence - by law a sprinkler system should be required.

The 155 Central Street residents have been temporarily located on Bartlett street and there have been issues already there in just a few months.

Click on this URL to see this article from the Somerville Journal describing more.

http://www.wickedlocal.com/somerville/news/x415853496/Neighbors-want-conditions-put-on-halfway-house